Bao’s Family Garden


Once the largest private garden in China, the Bao Family Garden was originally the private property of a
wealthy Chinese businessman in Anhui Province.

The Bao Family Garden is neighbor to the Tangyue Memorial Archways, a row of seven towering
archways erected along a meandering stone path, each arch dedicated to the memory of a particular
Bao family member.

The garden was maintained and expanded by generations of the Bao family from it's inception during
the Ming (CE 1368-1644) Dynasty through to the Qing (1644-1911) Dynasty. The Bao’s Family Garden
is comparable to the Plum Garden in Wuxi and the Humble Administrator Garden in Suzhou. The Bao’s
Family Garden was once the largest private garden in China, but part of it was ruined during wars.

Entering the garden, you will be surely surprised to see so many beautiful and fascinating bonsai plants in various kinds of shapes. Worthy of
particular mention are the Happiness Forest as well as the Pleasure-Boat Dock and the Enjoying-Fish Pool, where pleasure boats anchor up
ready to receive the visitor. Fruit trees and nursery stocks covering an area of over twenty hectares abound throughout the Bao Family Garden.
The garden boasts a number of highly ornamental plants, especially the penzai, or miniature trees, and the visitor will find more than a thousand
different types of clay pots in the style of one of six pottery schools: Hui, Su, Yang, Chuan, Hai, and Lingnan.

In addition, the Bao Family Garden has an extensive potted landscape (garden) which the visitor can
stroll through leisurely. There is an impressive array of clay pot types on display here, reflecting the
breadth of styles that belong to the aforementioned six pottery schools.

Indeed, the Bao Family Garden is home to the greatest number of potted plants – as well as the
greatest number of potted plant varieties – of all potted plant landscapes in China. For lovers of the
art of tree miniaturization as well as lovers of plotted plant landscapes, the Bao Family Garden at
Yellow Mountain is a venue not to be missed.